HUNTINGTON, Ind. -- Huntington (Ind.) University edged Indiana Wesleyan University 67-64 on Friday night in the Mid-Central College Conference Women's Basketball Tournament semifinals in Huntington, Indiana.

The second half featured seven ties and 10 lead changes after the Wildcats erased a double-digit deficit from the first half. Huntington advances to the championship game and will host Taylor (Ind.) University.

Things looked bleak for Indiana Wesleyan early in the contest. Trailing 8-6, the Indiana Wesleyan offense went cold for over nine minutes, managing just a pair of free throws as Huntington pulled away for a 22-8 lead with 6:13 to go in the half.

No. 19-ranked Indiana Wesleyan was finally able to regroup and tallied six unanswered points in less than two minutes to close the gap to single digits at 22-14. IWU freshman guard Rachel Steinbarger beat the clock to end the first half to put the Wildcats within six at 28-22. Steinbarger led all players with 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting, 3-of-4 from deep. She also led the game with eight boards.

No. 16-ranked Huntington could not stop Indiana Wesleyan in the opening minutes of the second half as IWU stormed back for their first lead of the contest. Steinbarger and sophomore guard Kayla Thompson connected on 3-point buckets in back-to-back possessions to give Indiana Wesleyan the 35-33 advantage with 15:18 to play.

Three ties and four lead changes over the next six minutes eventually led to the Wildcats building their largest lead of the night at 46-42 with nine minutes to play. Just two and a half minutes later the Foresters were able to reclaim the lead 52-48.

Sophomore forward LeAnn Douglas sank four free throws on the Wildcats' next two possessions to tie the score 52-52. Douglas ended the night with 14 points and six rebounds.

The score remained tied 59-59 with 2:19 remaining on the clock. A layup by Huntington with 2:00 to play marked the final lead change as HU led 61-59. Following a missed field goal attempt for IWU, Huntington hit a 3-point dagger at 1:03 to lead by five.

Steinbarger hit two free throws with 45 seconds left to close the gap to three points, but Huntington made 3-of-4 free throws in the waning moments to secure the victory.

Huntington advances to the conference tournament championship game by turning Indiana Wesleyan turnovers into points. HU scored 26 points off 19 IWU turnovers while the Wildcats only managed eight points off 14 Huntington mistakes.

Indiana Wesleyan will wait to learn their fate next weekend when the NAIA National Tournament field is announced.